Books

If you think learning bridge is slow and painful, you might consider this book the pain-killer

100 Winning Bridge Tips is designed specifically to take the pain out of learning bridge and to speed up your education. It covers situations that occur over and over again in every day play and provides a painless substitute for experience.

The idea is to learn about the common problems in advance, so they don’t seem quite so daunting when your encounter them at the bridge table.

“We think there should be more bridge books like this one: authoritative, compact and informative.” – The Contract Bridge Journal

“All of the tips are succinct, easy to memorise, valuable, and, as we have come to expect of Klinger, written in simple and clear style.” – Irish Bridge Player

Written to pick up where 100 Winning Bridge Tips left off, 50 More Winning Bridge Tips is for players who are keen and want to take their game to the next level.

The tips contained in this book are drawn from the methods used by the game’s top players. 50 More Winning Bridge Tips is packed with quizzes and exercises covering each tip, so you can practice them all thoroughly before you start using them in your games.

“If you enjoyed 100 Winning Bridge Tips you will enjoy this just as much.” – Bridge Magazine

You, too, can play "A Good Game of Modern Bridge" (for Standard American Players).

Bidding methods come and go, but the ones that work stay. the popular style of biding today is quite a bit removed from that of the 10=960s, 1970s and even the 1980s. While high card values are still very important, today there is far more emphasis on shape. That affects your decision to open or not and your choice of rebid.

In general bidding is far more competitive than it was thirty years ago. This is so whether it is pre-empting, overcalling or doubling for takeout.

In this book you will find the methods and conventional bids which reflect current standards. The first half will enable the club player to glide comfortably into modern practice. The second half contains more sophisticated approaches suitable for the advanced player and perhaps even for the expert. Adopt those that suit you.

Three outstanding bridge players and teachers compile their advice into a structured approach for learning bridge

Despite popular opinion to the contrary, bridge is not difficult to learn. This book is aimed at players who’ve never played before and those who’ve only played socially. It’ll teach you how to understand the logic of bidding, card play and defence.

It’s also an ideal resource for bridge teachers.

“This book would have saved me a great deal of time when I first started teaching bridge. I am sure it will prove a godsend to many others like me in the future.” – Christine Duckworth, Manager of the English Bridge Union Teachers’ Association

This is an important, and in some ways revolutionary, book. The point count method of hand evaluation was first proposed in 1914 and popularized in 1934 by Milton Work.

The 5-4-3-2-1 point count improves on the Milton work 4-3-2-1 count by reassessing the relative values of the honour cards. It also adds a further dimension to accurate hand evaluation by including the tens as well as upgrading for 5-card suits in balanced hands, both aspects of crucial importance when assessing balanced hands.

When you finish this book, it is unlikely that you are going to look at your hand the same way as you have in the past.

This book covers a whole range of bridge skills, including part score strategy, competitive bidding, bidding after a double and everything in between. Written by bridge legend Keith McNeil, whose skill at the game and unique style of bridge journalism gained him worldwide fame.

Ron Klinger Answers Your Bridge Queries - $27

Bridge master Ron Klinger answers some of the world’s most common bridge questions
The authority on all things bridge responds to some of the most pressing issues relating to the game, sent to him from people from all over the world.

The Bridge Player Who Laughed - $10

This book is a collection of hilarious stories from bridge tables around the world and jokes about the game. Learn why RATS are vital and laugh along with the anecdotes covering everyone from nervous novices to tournament tyrants.

Bridge is Fun: Learn and Laugh with Ron Klinger - $21

This book contains more than 80 problems to get your mind in gear ahead of your next bridge game. Solve a problem or two and you’ll be better placed to have a good game.

Learn to play the most popular card game in the world with tips from the expert

This book is the product of many lessons given to beginners and improving bridge players. It can be used on its own or in conjunction with bridge lessons.

It covers the ordinary situations you’ll face in bridge and helps you eliminate fundamental flaws in your game.

Bridge is fun to play, but the better you are the more fun you’ll have.

Changes in the 2010 sixth edition: The 1NT range is 15-17, the 2NT opening is 21-22 and the 2C : 2D, 2NT caters for 23-24 balanced. The jump-raise of opener's suit is now a limit raise, 10-12 points. With more, the delayed game-raise is recommended.

This is the most important book on defence in bridge to be published in half a century and will be essential reading for all serious bridge players.

DEADLY DEFENCE covers every important aspect in bridge to make good bridge players into excellent defenders. It deals with opening leads (how to convey maximum information), defensive play when playing second hand, third hand and also when you are first to play to a trick, how to use signals more effectively and how to think on defence like an expert.

'DEADLY DEFENCE is the most interesting book on defence that I have ever read' - quoted by Julian Klukowski (World Seniors Championship 2006 gold medallist)

The Deadly Defence sequel goes deeper into the areas needed to become a deadly defender and a feared opponent, and provides a large number of practical problem hands set in quiz form

Defense is the hardest part of bridge and even top-class players make mistakes much too frequently. The first part of this book gives insights into how to become a deceptive defender and how to recognize special defensive situations. The second part consists of a series of quizzes, with answers containing the logic and reasoning behind the correct play. After all the quizzes have been completed, readers will be amazed at how much more clearly they can see the winning defense at the table—and practice makes perfect if they tackle the problems again every three to six months. There is a lot of emphasis in the book on passing vital information so that a partner will be pointed into the right direction to find the winning play. Any bridge player will come away from this book with a greater insight into how to be an accomplished defender.

In this, the companion book to Guide to Better Acol Bridge, you’ll learn Ron Klinger’s tips for declarer and defensive play. Ending up in the right contract repeatedly can be very satisfying, but it won’t help on the score sheet if your card play lets you down. This book can help.

Like its companion volume, Guide to Better Card Play is also ideal for the classroom, with the chapters grouped into four courses.

“We like almost everything about this book... This is a very good buy.” – The Bridge World

Want to improve at duplicate bridge? What you need are methods which have a proven winning record and these are provided in the Guide to Duplicate Bridge.

The skills needed to win at tournament bridge can be quite different to those needed for a win at a social game. In this book, bridge master Ron Klinger provides a detailed look at some winning strategies for duplicate bridge.

It includes the standard methods which have proved successful in the past, as well as more recent developments. It explains how they work, when they apply and why you can expect to obtain better scores by adopting them.

“It is a guide unreservedly recommended at all times.” – The Oxford Times

Want to improve at duplicate bridge? What you need are methods which have a proven winning record and these are provided in the Guide to Duplicate Bridge.

The skills needed to win at tournament bridge can be quite different to those needed for a win at a social game. In this book, bridge master Ron Klinger provides a detailed look at some winning strategies for duplicate bridge.

It includes the standard methods which have proved successful in the past, as well as more recent developments. It explains how they work, when they apply and why you can expect to obtain better scores by adopting them.

“It is a guide unreservedly recommended at all times.” – The Oxford Times

Many players feel trepidation when faced with playing a no-trumps contract.

This invaluable bridge guide to better declarer play teaches players how to approach such contracts without fear. The correct lines and logical thinking are explained clearly and you will not only make your contracts, but also score overtricks as well.

The first section covers the approach you should adopt before you even play a card from dummy; followed by practical examples, problems to solve, and deals that arose in major competitions where the very best players did not always find the right answer. Most importantly, the solutions include the logic behind the right play, the clues to locate the missing cards, and ideas on how to induce opposition error when you have no legitimate chance for success.

Where you might have felt reluctance when playing no trumps, you will emerge from this handbook with a new sense of confidence.

The opening lead is one of the toughest areas of the game. By following the guide-lines in this book not only will you find the winning lead more often, but also you will be able to avoid the futile or dangerous leads which make declarer's task easier.

By giving less away with the opening lead, your scores are bound to improve. This book is about the logic and methods for finding the best lead time and time again. The first section deals with the approach you should adopt before you even consider plucking a card from your hand. It provides a series of steps to enable you to come up with the best start.

This is followed by a section of practical problems that arose in major competitions where the very best players did not always find the right answer. Most importantly, the solutions to each problem include the logic behind the right choice and the clues that should point you in the right direction. After completing this book, perhaps you will not find the killing lead every time, but you will find it more often.

An expert card player's advice on how to maximize tricks when playing as declarer in a trump contract

Following the successful Improve Your Declarer Play at No-Trumps, Ron Klinger explains to bridge players how to make the most of their assets in trump contracts. When is it right to draw trumps, when to delay, when to cross-ruff, and many more topics are covered to make any player a better declarer and make that extra trick or two to earn a top score.

A comprehensive guide to the latest developments in slams, one of the most difficult areas to master in bidding

Bidding in the slam area has developed rapidly over the past 20 years and players are bidding slams more often and more accurately. Here Ron Klinger, writing in his lucid style, shows how to judge whether slam is likely or not. He also reveals the methods to find the critical cards in partner's hand—whether it is to stay out of a poor slam, bid a good small slam, or find an excellent grand slam.

This is a collection of bridge stories with a Jewish flavor. The kindly and considerate Rabbi, the star performer, has a gentle sense of humor—which is counterpointed by the uproarious exchanges between his companions as some remarkable sequences unfold at the bridge table.

An assortment of problems, tests and advice from the best of the best – taken from articles spanning decades and moderated by an Australian bridge icon

This book covers a whole range of bridge skills, including part score strategy, competitive bidding, bidding after a double and everything in between. Written by bridge legend Keith McNeil, whose skill at the game and unique style of bridge journalism gained him worldwide fame.

Besides, what self-respecting bridge aficionado could resist a book that describes itself as: “A collection of the best of Bidding Forum, directed with a modicum of wit and a dash of vitriol by Keith McNeil in Australian Bridge magazine, together with assorted articles and biased views.”

“It was a lucky day for Australian Bridge readers when a veritable accident of fate allowed Keith McNeil to take over Bidding Forum.” – Ron Klinger

A pocket guide to bridge, written by two internationally regarded writers and players.

For every bridge player who wants to be sure of the best bid, lead, or play, this book is designed as a quick reference. It includes what players need to know for opening bids, responses, and rebids. There is also guidance on hand evaluation, competitive bidding strategy, opening leads, declarer play, and defense so that the reader will have all the basic essentials of good play within easy reach.

Helping any bridge player improve their chances of making devastating opening leads, this is an invaluable resource.

The opening lead is the most vital in card play. This Fast Fact Finder provides the general questions you must ask yourself before leading and gives a vast number of expert tips for specific lead situations.

Expanded new edition of an established classic. An additional 16 pages of entertaining and instructive problems from actual play.

BRIDGE WORLD said of the first edition: 'is as good a quiz book as has ever appeard.. Instead of examples of well-known ideas, the author presents truly practical situations.. the questions emphasise those aspects of bridge play that are truly important at the table. Our quibbles with the analysis are minor, and we recommend the book as outstanding of its kind.'

The book is divided into sections for the "Elementary", "Intermediate", and "Advanced" players, and the hands are not grouped thematically. This means that you are not given a clue whether you should be endplaying, squeezing or whatever.. you are left to decide that for yourself, just as at the table. The problems set out are very practical ones, the kind you may meet half a dozen times in a session, and the solutions are never flashy and artificial, but always make sound sense when you read the analysis.

Think your slam bidding is pretty good? See how you go against the best!

This book contains 120 testing deals that arose at the highest level of play to challenge you and your partner. The experts’ decisions weren’t always perfect, so you have the chance to better their efforts, but just matching their results will be a top notch result.

Slam bidding is often a chink in the armour of an otherwise strong partnership. This book gives you about a year’s worth of practice, in addition to what you’ll encounter at the table.

Right Through The Pack (A Bridge Fantasy) by Robert Darvas and Norman de V Hart was published in 1948 and the idea of each card in the pack telling its own story was an instant hit. It is on virtually every magazine’s and player’s list of the top ten bridge books of all time and has become a bridge classic.

This new book follows the original but also continues the story of the Old Master, a character featured in a series of articles Ron wrote for The Bridge World magazine. The Old Master managed to snatch victory from impossible-seeming situations but in the final article, Last Hurrah, he collapsed and died... or did he? In Right Through The Pack Again the cards strive to keep the Old Master alive. Each card tells its own tale and how it was the key feature in a particular hand. Not only will you be enchanted by the deals, but you will also learn more about why the Old Master has lost the zest for life. Will the cards be able to restore his desire to live?

The Guide to Better Bridge is for players who’ve mastered the basics and who want to improve their game. By following the advice contained in this book from bridge master Ron Klinger, you’ll know you’re doing the right thing - improving both your skill and confidence.

Time marches on and the standard approach to bidding changes with it. Most players now play 1NT as 15-17, not 16-18. The preferred range for a 2NT opening is 21-22 points, but a good 20 points qualifies. Where jump raises, e.g., 1S : 3S, were once played as forcing, they are commonly used these days as a limit raise, 10-12 points. Overcalls have wider ranges, 8-16/17 at the 1-level, 10-16/17 at the 2-level. Overcalls have wider ranges, 8-16/17 at the 1-level, 10-16/17 at the 2-level. All of these have been incorporated in this edition.

“A sense of humour is indispensible in order to survive in the world of bridge.” – Ron Klinger

This book is a collection of hilarious stories from bridge tables around the world and jokes about the game. Learn why RATS are vital and laugh along with the anecdotes covering everyone from nervous novices to tournament tyrants.

Amidst the fun and games there is a little serious business, with plenty of example hands from tournament play to get stuck into.

An average pair using the Law will do better in competitive bidding than an expert pair unaware of the Law.

The Law of Total Tricks is a vital element in competitive bidding in bridge. This flipper is designed as a quick reference guide for all keen bridge players, explaining the approach and how it should be used both at part-score level or at game-level or higher.

Every once in a while a bridge book comes along that can literally change the way you think about an aspect of the game. The Modern Losing Trick Count is clearly in that category.
A pair that takes the time to define their methods in terms of losers will have a great advantage . . . Those who prefer American bidding will be pleased to know that most of (the) book is a discussion of how to apply the LTC to modern natural systems . . . In my book, any serious player who passes this one is a loser.’

Average bridge players tend to focus on point count for their bidding decisions, but the expert recognizes that the shape of the hand also plays a vital role. Knowing the implications of shape will help you find the best contract more often.

This insightful reference not only reveals how to use hand patterns to winning effect, but also shows how to incorporate the ideas of shape in your bidding system. The extent to which a successful play or defense is linked to a knowledge of the pattern of the opponents' hands is also addressed.

Simple instructions and useful examples demonstrate the essentials of learning how to read your hand.

David Bird and Ron Klinger made a great hit with KOSHER BRIDGE, which was enthusiatically applauded world-wide by the leading bridge critics.

In THE RABBI AND THE WEAKER SEX, the retitled KOSHER BRIDGE 2, the cast returns in splendid form and the Rabbi, kindly and considerate, maintains an essential balance between the hilariously warring factions and the excellence of the bridge ensures that readers will be properly instructed while being immoderately entertained. If you did not read the first book you can start with this one. We guarantee you will come back for more.

The world of bridge has winners and also-rans, which would you rather be?

Discover your weaknesses and improve on your strengths as you read through this examination of the traits you need to win when you play bridge. It goes over the personal attributes and psychological requirements you’ll need, as well as the standard of card play required.

Let Australian Grand Master and World Bridge Federation International Master Ron Klinger help you to improve your game with his invaluable advice and tips.

More than half the book is devoted to quizzes on bidding, opening leads, defensive play and declarer play. With most of the example hands taken from some of the highest levels of play, you’ll be able to use them to challenge yourself and learn from some of the best bridge players out there.

To bid in a controlled auction to a successful slam is one of the great pleasures of bridge. In Understanding Slam Bidding, Ron Klinger and Andrew Kambites teach you the important modern conventions and teach you how to identify the key cards in your hand.

Many players know how to bid, but are less adept at deciding when not to bid; this book shows how to finish in the right contract

Many players bid too often and too much, but it can be profitable to know when to keep your mouth shut. From the opening bid to much later rounds of bidding, from uncontested sequences to highly competitive auctions, this book will provide the groundwork so that you will know when silence can be golden. Each chapter covers the principles that indicate when bidding is the right course, and then which call to choose, and when passing is the winning action.